Climate and You

Instructional Sequence: Day 16

Carbon Calculator Activity: In this learning activity,
students will use a Web-based carbon calculator to determine their carbon
footprint. Students will examine their personal and household habits and
choices in relation to their carbon footprint; identify which personal activities
and household choices produce the most CO2 emissions; compare their carbon
footprint to the U.S. and global averages; and identify lifestyle changes
they can make to reduce their footprint.

1. Begin the class session with the video clip: What is the source
of the increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere?
Note: The video clip is a very large file. You may wish to download
the video clip to your computer prior to using it in your classroom.

Carbon Emission Calculator Overview: The carbon emissions
calculator is divided into 3 general areas (Household,
Transportation, and Food) that scientists have determined
to be main contributors to CO2 emissions at an individual and household
level. Each section of the carbon emissions calculator includes questions
that will help students understand how much of an impact they are having
on the environment. The carbon emissions calculator will determine
a student’s carbon footprint based on the answer they provide for each question.
Responses to each question will provide a cumulative carbon emission value
for each section. At the top of each Web page, students will also see the
total cumulative carbon emission value for all sections. Students will be
able to view how sensitive each of their responses is to their total annual
emissions.

The carbon emissions calculator Web site has 4 tabs across the top - Household,
Transportation, Food, and Analysis. Each tab contains a different section
of the carbon calculator.

2. Beneath the first 3 tabs - Household, Transportation, and Food - are
a series of questions that students will answer. Each response produces
a corresponding CO2 emissions value.

3. After students have completed their responses to all questions in a
section, they can use the Next or Previous buttons
to move back and forth between the different sections. In addition,
students can navigate to a different section, by selecting a tab at the
top of the page.

4. In the top right corner of the Web page, the calculator displays the
total annual amount of CO2 emissions in both tons and kilograms for the
displayed section (# 2) and a cumulative total of all 3 sections of the
calculator (# 1).

5. The calculator will also display the total amount of carbon produced
for each student’s response to a question. This is displayed in the Carbon
Emission Difference box.

6. The Analysis section contains graphical CO2 emissions
summaries that are produced based on the students’ responses to each section.
Comparison graphs of US and global CO2 emissions are also located in this
section of the carbon calculator.

7. Show students that they will need to scroll down the page to answer
all 18 questions in the Household section.

8. Show students how to answer a question by selecting a radial button
underneath a question. Show students that they can change their answer
by selecting a different radial button.

9. A CO2 emissions value is associated with each answer. This value is
added to the total emissions for that section and the total annual CO2 emissions.

10. To help the students observe how much an activity increases their carbon
footprint it will be helpful to show them an example. Have the students
navigate to the Transportation tab and scroll down to Question
# 2 -How many times a week does your household
use a car?The students should
select various responses within Question # 2 to observe the magnitude of
the tons of CO2 emission changes for each selection.

11. After all of the questions are answered in the Household
section, students should click on the Transportation tab
and answer each question in that section. Students can navigate between
pages by selecting the tabs at the top of the page. The students can
also navigate to this section by using the Next and Previous
buttons at the bottom of the page.

12. After all of the questions have been answered on the Transportation
tab, instruct students to navigate to the Food
tab. Instruct the students to answer all of the questions on this
page.

13. After answering all questions in the 3 sections, students should navigate
to the Analysis section.

14. The Analysis page provides a summary of the students
total CO2 emissions and displays their CO2 emissions data for each section.
The left pie chart displays the percentage breakdown of the students’ total
CO2 emissions by section. Students can also compare their CO2 emissions
to the CO2 emissions produced by the average United States citizen.

15. If a CO2 emission section is less than 5% of the total, the students
will need to scroll their mouse over that section to view the breakdown.
See the image below.

16. The lower bar graphs display the total CO2 emissions of the student,
the average United States citizen (27 tons of CO2 annually), and the average
global citizen (5 tons of CO2 annually). This graph is also depicted
as kg of CO2.

Implementation Suggestion: Some low-ability students may
require additional support with reading and interpreting the displayed pie
and bar graph data. You may wish to explicitly model how to read and interpret
these data displays to assist students with answering the questions on the
Student Investigation Sheet.

17. After reviewing the Analysis page, instruct students
to answer the analysis questions on the Student Investigation Sheet.

Important Note: The percentage of CO2 emissions from food
for middle school students will likely be higher than the percentage of
CO2 emissions from food for the average US emissions. This occurs since
students’ CO2 emissions percentage from transportation is usually much less
than the average US citizens’ emissions percentage.